Meaningful Use Hardship Exceptions

Congress has passed a bill to provide hardship exceptions to anyone who applies for the 2015 year. This blanket hardship exception will still require that you request the exception to prevent penalties in 2017. This is in response to significant lobbying in congress regarding the debacle with Stage 2 rules changes that were not completed until after the start of the 4th quarter reporting period.

The Law-”Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act”, will relieve some of the burden to healthcare providers. There is still much discussion and many modifications to come in the Meaningful Use process as we move toward Merit Based Reimbursement. The biggest point of discussion will be what to do with the current proposed Stage 3 Meaningful Use requirements. There will be significant pressure not to proceed to Stage 3 in the middle of the process to produce the rules for Merit Based Reimbursement. Stay tuned, it will be a Bumpy Ride.